The girl dropped Manny and ordered me to put my ring on the ground. Hesitant, I slipped it off my finger and tossed it down. She stepped toward me, rambling about how the scaled swords were meant to test our abilities.
The moment her hand touched my ring, I lashed out—kicking her square in the face. The ring spun into the air; I leapt up, snatched it back, and slid it onto my finger. My hands folded together, and roots burst from the ground, surging toward her. She broke free again and again until the roots finally overwhelmed her.
Seizing the moment, I grabbed Manny and teleported us to Mai's village. When we emerged, Mai, her father, and her brothers were there. Relief washed over her face as she saw me alive despite everything. I laid Manny on the ground and began healing his battered body while her father watched intently, scrutinizing every movement as if trying to understand my power.
As I finished, Mai's father mentioned a man in the village he believed to be Eqihr. I needed to confirm it and asked to see him. Mai offered to take Manny to a safe hut; I agreed and followed her father. At the back of the village stood a hut, and inside—sure enough—was Eqihr. Seeing him felt like a weight off my shoulders.
When I asked what happened at Yuki, he said he'd explain. The scaled Sword Battalion had attacked Yuki to capture Manny and me. They'd even tried, and failed, to hold us captive back on Nova1c.
I recounted everything that had happened before and after our imprisonment, but Eqihr cut in, trying to drive a point home. "Listen to a story," he said. "The name of it is the Five-Scaled Massacre." Outside, the sun dipped lower and the sky began to crackle with distant thunder.
"This story," Eqihr began, "is vital for you and Manny. The five-scaled swords become truly dangerous when reunited. Long ago, I found my dragon sword.
It gave me a surge of power known as the Scaled Fusion—half the strength you currently wield. The same goes for every other sword user. But the snake sword… the snake sword is different. It's benevolent, yet far more destructive than the other four."
That word—counterparts—hung in my mind. Did this mean they had a shared function? When I asked, he said they do and they don't at the same time.
He continued. "Individually, the scaled swords are powerful. Together, in one person's hands, they become destruction incarnate."
I leaned back at that. "How do they work when united?" I asked. Eqihr answered, "To wield them properly, all five must be held at once." He spoke for a while before driving the point home: "They can be used simultaneously or merged into a single weapon of mass destruction—one designed to obliterate landmasses."
The thought chilled me. "Who would want such a thing?" I asked. "Only one man," Eqihr said darkly. "Nazo Lunar." He explained that Nazo's family had been wiped out by the Yin-Yang spirits. Rain pattered through the roof as Eqihr warned, "If someone like him acquires both the spirits and the swords, it will mean the end of all lands."
I asked him the only question that mattered: "How do you stop a scaled sword?"
"Martial arts," he said at last. "It's the only real chance. But whoever wields the five will counter anything they see. In truth, no one can fight them head-on."
I thought aloud. "Then the only way is to strike when they're not looking. Maybe double-team them—attack from the blind side." But Eqihr added grimly that the wielder would also gain enhanced senses, like the true forms of Yin and Yang.
Unease settled over me at the idea of facing someone like that. Eqihr said he needed more rest, so I left the hut.
My next task was checking on Manny. Mai guided me to him. Inside, Manny leaned against the wall, clutching his stomach. "Manny, are you still hurt?" I asked. He said my healing couldn't fix it and that he barely remembered what had happened.
I told him how he had transformed into something powerful—how he'd nearly defeated that girl. He didn't believe it. I also explained where we were and the current time. He said he wanted to rest the night and hoped whatever was inside him would heal. I let him be and stepped outside.
Mai stood waiting. She said her father wanted to speak with me at the campfire. I listened quietly as she led me there.
"Good," her father said as I arrived. "You're here. I have something important to ask." His tone was firm, deliberate. I told him he had my full attention.
He explained that when the village was attacked, Nazo kidnapped most of the remaining villagers and took them elsewhere. I assumed he wanted me to retrieve them, and he confirmed it, asking again if I would go. I told him what little Eqihr had said about Nazo and admitted that rescuing them could cost my life as well as theirs.
He didn't know Nazo was essentially a rank seven. Mai's father was only rank four, which was why he couldn't defend the village. He refused his own request, telling me the Yin and Yang users should remain here. I tried to ease him by promising that if I went to rescue anyone, the villagers would be first on my list.
He thanked me for that and told me to rest for the night. I realized how long it had been since I'd truly rested—before the fight with the scaled-sword woman. I found a hut and collapsed into sleep.